1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid seasoning.
2. Background of the Invention
Nowadays, interest in physiological functions of various components contained in food products is highly increasing. The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare in Japan has certified food products containing components associated with such physiological functions or biological activities as Food for Specified Health Use (FOSHU). Such food products have been commercialized in the form of a beverage, yogurt, soup, miso soup, a prepared food product such as hamburger steak, a tablet-form confectionery, a tablet, or the like. It has been recommended that such food products be ingested once or twice a day.
Various materials have been proposed as materials having physiologically active functions. An example is a food material having an antihypertensive effect. Among others, peptide, γ-aminobutyric acid, chlorogenic acid, or the like are considered to be substances that are contained in food products and are highly safe. Thus, techniques of increasing the contents of such substances in food products or adding such substances to food products have been proposed (JP-A-06-78716, JP-A-06-197727, JP-A-2000-60489, and JP-A-2004-147560).
Since ingestion of common salts has adverse effects on renal diseases, cardiac diseases, and hypertension, addition of these to food products containing a high content of salts has been proposed. There have been a large number of techniques regarding the combined use of such a food material having an antihypertensive effect with soy sauce as a representative example of the aforementioned food products (JP-A-2002-87977, JP-A-2004-290129, JP-A-2004-194515, JP-A-2004-290088, JP-A-06-133723, and JP-A-02-167052). In order to ingest an effective amount of such a food material, a large amount of the food product should be ingested. However, ingestion of a large amount of such a food product results in ingestion of large quantities of salts. This leads to a decrease in the effect of ingesting the aforementioned food material, and thus it is unfavorable. Further, addition of a large amount of the aforementioned food material may affect the flavor of the food product.